Mosquito Dharma

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. -- Lao Tzu

PHOTO:KCS

I met with my guru recently. I say "guru" for lack of a better word. He's a person just like you and me, but unlike me he has studied various religions of the world and their histories. His Tibetan Buddhist studies and practice have earned him the honorary title of rinpoche.

He helps me to understand the greater picture of what's happening in our world and what we might do about it as individuals. I always learn something from him. We met at a coffee shop in Santa Cruz while construction was taking place nearby. The din of tractors and graders beeping and grinding served as our background. Soon those noises faded away as time passed while we talked and laughed.

Following is our conversation:

Me: So good to see you. It's been too long. 

Rinpoche: Yes, too long. What a beautiful afternoon to see you. 

Me: Agreed. What have you been doing?

R: Nothing.

Me: That's funny. I said that to my high school football coach when he asked what I had done over the summer. He answered sharply: "Nothing! Don't tell me you did nothing!" I was taken back.

R: He was obviously trapped in what we call samsara, the state of always having to do something but never going anywhere. Like running in circles.

Me: What's wrong with running in circles? 

R: That's fine as long as you know you're going nowhere.

Me: Where should we be going?

R: Nowhere. There is no should. We are not given orders. We make that up.

Me: Don't we need direction to get along and accomplish things, like building homes and acting civil to each other?

R: Yes, there is a balance to maintain. But our primary activity to sustain life is to act with compassion for all sentient beings.

Me: Does that include our enemies, even mosquitoes?

R: It includes all sentient beings.

Me: But a mosquito could transmit an infectious disease to me, like malaria. I could die. Is it wrong to kill a sentient being who can kill you?

R: What is WRONG? Let's for a minute dispense with right and wrong. Mosquitoes are not calculating right or wrong. They are just being mosquitoes.

Me: And I'm just being human.

R: Are you?

Me: Yes, I'm protecting myself from disease.

R: Must you kill the mosquito?

Me: I guess I could run away, or spray repellent on exposed parts of my body.

R: That's an idea I like.

As we stood talking in the patio twilight, I could hear the buzzing of a mosquito nearby. A second or so later Rinpoche slapped at his forehead, leaving the remains of a dead mosquito stuck to his skin.

Me: You just killed a mosquito, Rinpoche, after telling me to show compassion for all sentient beings.

R: Do you DO everything anybody tells you?

Me: No, but I don't understand your lesson. I don't consider you just ANYBODY.

R:  Would you rather that I had simply allowed the mosquito to bite me?

Me: No, but...

R: As a human being I am not perfect.

Me: But isn't the mosquito perfect?

R: It is certainly more perfect than I am. Shall we drink tea?